Kenneth Colley

Personal Info

Birthday

December 7, 1937

Day of Death

2025-06-30

(87 years old)

Place of Birth

Manchester, England, UK

Also Known As

Kenneth Cooley

Ken Colley

Kenneth Colley

Biography

Kenneth Colley (7 December 1937 — 30 June 2025) was an English actor. A long-time character actor, he came to wider prominence through his role as Admiral Piett in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.

Colley was born in Manchester. He played Jesus (very briefly indeed) in Life of Brian (1979), having also appeared in the earlier Python-related production Ripping Yarns episode "The Testing of Eric Olthwaite" alongside Michael Palin. As a Shakespearean actor, he played the Duke of Vienna in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Measure for Measure (also 1979).

Known For

Midsomer Murders

Peaky Blinders

Agatha Christie's Poirot

The Institute

Vera

Minder

Play for Today

Foyle's War

Filmography

2024
Dan Hawk Psychic Detective
as Thaddeus Moncrief
2013
Scar Tissue
as Weaver
2012
Lego Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
as Admiral Piett (voice)
2007
Greetings
as Ken
2005
Like Father Like Son
as Rawsthorne
1999
Hold Back the Night
as Uncle Bob
1998
Shadow Run
as Larcombe
1996
Brassed Off
as Greasley
Robert Rylands' Last Journey
as Archdale
1995
Solomon & Sheba
as Nathan
1993
Unnatural Causes
as Inspector Gerry Reckless
1992
The Secret Life of Arnold Bax
as John Ireland
La Vie de Bohème
as Street Sweeper
1991
Prisoner of Honor
as Capt. Dreyfus
1990
The Last Island
as Nick
I Hired a Contract Killer
as The Killer
Kremlin Farewell
as Sergej
The Plot to Kill Hitler
as Wilhelm Keitel
1989
The Rainbow
as Mr. Brunt
A Master of the Marionettes
as Inspector Tennyson
1988
A Summer Story
as Jim
1987
Casanova
as Le Duc
1986
The Whistle Blower
as Bill Pickett
1984
Return to Waterloo
as The Traveller
1983
Return of the Jedi
as Admiral Piett
The Scarlet and the Black
as Capt. Hirsch
1982
Giro City
as Martin
Firefox
as Colonel Kontarsky
1980
The Empire Strikes Back
as Admiral Piett
1979
Life of Brian
as Jesus
The Danedyke Mystery
as The Major
Measure for Measure
as Duke Vincentio
1978
Les Misérables
as Police Prefect
One Bummer News Day
as Frank Benyon
1977
Come the Revolution
as Bruce Tetley
The Testing of Eric Olthwaite
as Robber
Jabberwocky
as 1st Fanatic
1975
Lisztomania
as Frederic Chopin
Flame
as Tony Devlin
1974
Juggernaut
as Detective Brown
Mahler
as Krenek
1973
Hitler: The Last Ten Days
as Boldt
1972
The Triple Echo
as Provo Corporal
1971
The Boy Friend
as King in fantasy sequence (uncredited)
The Devils
as Legrand
The Music Lovers
as Modeste Tchaikovsky
1970
Performance
as Tony Farrell (as Ken Colley)
1968
The Blood Beast Terror
as James
Who Pays?
as Corbett
1967
How I Won the War
as 2nd Replacement
The Jokers
as De Winter
1965
Three Clear Sundays
as Nick
1963
Seventy Deadly Pills
as Covent Garden porter